The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 258 Abuse of Vigilante Justice?

Sure enough, the next moment, Shuang'er was dragged in by the constables, her body covered in blood.

"Shuang'er!" Zhiwan cried out in alarm and rushed over.

Seeing Shuang'er covered in blood, she was both shocked and angry. She wanted to hug her, but was afraid of touching her wounds, so she dared not move rashly.

At this moment, she finally understood why Ouyang Lei had asked her to change into blood-stained clothes.

She was a suspect, and so was Shuang'er, her personal maid, because the two of them were the first to discover Aunt Xu's death, and they happened to be at the crime scene.

She was luckier than Shuang'er, as she received protection, while Shuang'er had no one to protect her and was taken to the Iron Prison, where she suffered all kinds of torture.

Thinking of this, she felt overwhelmed with guilt. She touched Shuang'er's pale face, her voice choked with emotion, "I'm sorry, Shuang'er, I've dragged you into this..."

“Miss…” Shuang’er forced herself to sit up and shook her head, saying, “I’m fine…”

Ouyang Lei felt a little guilty. This case had caused quite a stir, and even the Emperor was watching. He couldn't be too lenient. Both Zhiwan and her maid were suspects. He could only protect Zhiwan from punishment, but he was powerless to help her maid.

After all, so many eyes are watching.

Ouyang Lei collected his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Shuang'er, tell me the details of what happened back then, without hiding anything!"

“I said everything I needed to say while I was being tortured, not a single word was false… My young lady could never have killed Concubine Xu… When we returned from Madam Lu’s Fushou Hall, we found Concubine Xu dead on the bed in the inner room… My young lady was so frightened that she vomited.”

On the contrary, it was Miss Lu the Fourth. Her behavior was suspicious. She rarely came to Yaoguang Pavilion. That day, when Miss and I discovered that Concubine Xu had been brutally murdered, she rushed in and started saying that Miss had killed her concubine..."

Shuang'er had been tortured and was injured; her voice was weak and feeble.

“You’re talking nonsense… Zhiwan is your young lady, so of course you’d speak to her… It was clearly a conspiracy between you and your servant to kill my aunt… My lord, Shuang’er’s words… cannot be used as evidence, she’s an accomplice…” Lu Lan cried out hoarsely as she lay on the ground.

“They are mistress and servant, and their words cannot be trusted. So please invite Madam Lu, Old Madam Lu, Lord Chen, and Coroner Wang to the hall,” Ouyang Lei ordered.

Before long, the group was brought to the courtroom.

Seeing that Zhiwan was covered in blood, Madam Wei's expression changed drastically, and she cried out, "Wan'er..."

Zhiwan shook her head at her.

Wei then composed herself and re-examined her complexion.

Seeing that although she had blood on her body, her complexion was still good, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he saw Shuang'er lying on the ground, covered in blood and pale-faced, and his heart tightened. This girl had really suffered this time.

Looking at Lu Lan, who was covered in blood, Old Madam Lu was heartbroken. She angrily questioned Ouyang Lei, "Your Dali Temple is abusing your power! My granddaughter was perfectly fine, and you've beaten her like this. Do you intend to force a confession out of her?"

Ou Yanglei sneered inwardly, ignoring her, and with a stern face, slammed the gavel down forcefully, saying, "Silence! How dare you make noise in the courtroom?"

Only then did Madam Lu shut her mouth.

"Madam Lu, was Zhiwan with you at 1:15 am yesterday?" Ou Yanglei asked.

“That’s right.” Madam Wei nodded. “Yesterday was the day Zhiwan moved out of the Lu residence. I asked her to come with me to Fushou Hall to say goodbye to the old lady.”

Ouyang Lei nodded and turned his gaze to Madam Lu, "Madam Lu, at 1:15 AM yesterday, was Zhiwan speaking with Madam Lu in your Fushou Hall?"

Old Madam Lu's eyes flickered. "I...I'm old, I don't remember the exact time." Hearing this, Madam Wei was furious.

The old lady is usually very particular about the time of day, how could she not remember?
She was about to speak when she saw Ouyang Lei raise his hand and gesture as if to press down, continuing, "It doesn't matter if the old lady doesn't remember, the servants below will definitely remember. Someone, summon the servants from Fushou Hall!"

A short while later, the yamen runners entered with several servants from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion.

"Sir, they are all servants who serve Madam Lu," the constable reported.

Ouyang Lei nodded and looked at Madam Lu, "Madam, you should recognize these people, right?"

Seeing that even the servants in her own courtyard had been summoned to the Dali Temple, Old Madam Lu's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. Her lips moved slightly, but she remained silent.

"Madam." The servants bowed to her.

Madam Lu looked very annoyed and ignored them.

"Since you serve Madam Lu, you should have seen Madam Lu and Zhiwan when Madam Lu took them to say goodbye yesterday morning, right?"

“Yes, I have seen it. I even served tea to Madam and Miss Cousin back then,” one of the maids replied immediately.

"I've seen them too. When Madam and Miss Cousin came over, I was pruning the flowers and plants in the courtyard and I even bowed to them," an older woman replied.

“I’ve seen them too,” another maid said. “I was waiting outside when I saw Madam and Miss Cousin come together, and I even reported it to the old lady inside.”

Hearing the three servants talking amongst themselves, Old Madam Lu glared at them fiercely.

The group pretended not to see it.

They were simply answering the adults' questions truthfully. Besides, the old lady was already confused, yet she was helping a concubine's daughter to accuse the future wife of the heir.

"Do you remember what time it was when Madam Lu and Zhiwan arrived at Fushou Hall?" Ouyang Lei continued to ask.

"I know, around 9 AM."

"It seems to be 1:15 AM, because I am in charge of the flowers and plants in the courtyard. I have to water or prune them at the designated time every day."

"What time did they leave Fushou Hall? Do you remember?" Ouyang Lei asked again.

"We're not sure of the exact time, but they must have sat for about fifteen minutes before leaving," the servants replied.

“About a quarter of an hour, which means that when Zhiwan left Fushou Hall, it was already 1:45 AM. And when she returned to Yaoguang Pavilion from Fushou Hall, it was around 1:35 AM.” Ouyang Lei said, looking at the coroner Wang. “I have seen the autopsy report you wrote. It says that when you, Lord Chen, and the constables arrived, the body of the deceased Xu Yumei was still warm. Do you estimate that Xu Yumei died at 1:15 AM?”

"Yes, sir," Coroner Wang replied.

Ouyang Lei nodded and looked at Lord Chen, "Lord Chen, what time was it when you received the report and arrived at the scene of the murder at the Duke of Dingguo's mansion?"

Lord Chen said, "When I received the report, it was 9:00 AM. When I arrived at the crime scene, it was around 4:40 AM."

Ouyang Lei said in a deep voice, "The deceased died at 1:15 AM, but you received the report at 1:15 AM. In other words, you received the report before the deceased was murdered?"

"That's exactly right." Lord Chen nodded.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lei loudly announced, "The deceased died at 1:15 AM, and at that time, Zhiwan was talking to Old Madam Lu, so she could not have killed the deceased. The one who killed the deceased was someone else!"